Meeting Notice

This next month's great meeting topics is "All About iTunes".
The meeting will be held at 7:00 pm, March 3, 2015, in Kennedy Hall at Immaculate Conception School, 1208 E. McCarty Street, Jefferson City, MO. Please bring your friends who are Mac or iOS users to our meetings.

August 09, 2012

Mountain Lion books: O’Reilly’s Latest Jewels

a review by Tom Piper

The newest Mac OS 10.8 has been released, and our friends a O’Reilly Media have great resources immediately available to help us get the most out of this latest upgrade. In “The Missing Manual” for OS X Mountain Lion, David Pogue explains all of the exciting new features and how to get the most out of them. As a bonus, in his “OS X Mountain Lion Pocket Guide”, Chris Seibold keeps tips and tricks handy. Here is an overview of each.

As their website says: What do you get when you cross a Mac with an iPad? OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. It’s 200 new features include iPaddish goodies like dictation, Notification Center, and Reminders — but not a single page of instructions. Fortunately, David Pogue is back, with the expertise and humor that have made this the #1 bestselling Mac book for over 10 years straight.

Highlights of the book include big-ticket changes like Twitter and Facebook integration, Air-Play TV mirroring, Power Nap, Game Center, Documents in the Cloud, iMessages, Gatekeeper, and more. If Apple wrote it, this book covers it. This publication demystifies the hundreds of smaller enhancements, too, in all 50 programs that come with the Mac like Safari, Mail, Messages, Preview, and others. This must be the tippiest, trickiest Mac book ever written with undocumented surprises on every page. For the heavy hitters, topics include security, accounts, networking, build-your own services, file sharing with Windows —this one witty, expert guide makes it all crystal clear.

I’ve been a fan of David’s since meeting him at Macworld over a decade again, and his books are always entertaining and informative. He doesn’t need color illustrations to get his point across because the notes, tips, descriptions, bullets, pictures, “up to speed” and power users’ clinic and other boxes communicate very well. I appreciate the short paragraphs, readable typeface, excellent titling, and dynamic flow of information that makes this both a page-turner and terrific reference manual.

There's something new on practically every page of this new edition, and David Pogue brings his celebrated wit and expertise to every one of them. Apple's brought a new cat to town, and this great book will help you make get the most out of your investment. The Ebook (which I now get in PDF format) is only $27.99. For the print version plus Ebook, the price is $38.49 on O’Reilly’s website (http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920025634.do).

Again, from their website: Get the concise information you need to start using OS X Mountain Lion, the latest version of the Mac operating system. This handy guide goes right to the heart of the OS, with details on system preferences, built-in applications, utilities, and other features.

Once you’re familiar with the fundamentals, use this book as a resource for problem-solving on the fly. You get configuration tips, lots of step-by-step instructions, guides for troubleshooting, and other advice—all in an easy-to-read format. It will help you learn what’s new, including improved iCloud integration and other iPad-inspired features, as well as discover how working with multiple devices is easier and more streamlined with Mountain Lion.

This is a guide to the Finder, Dock, user accounts, and other essentials, shows how to use Mountain Lion’s system preferences to customize your Mac, and empowers you to take advantage of OS X applications, such as FaceTime and Time Machine. There are even illustrations of how to manage passwords and secure your data, plus work more efficiently with a complete list of keyboard shortcuts.

This is the book that I used to carry in my back pocket for quick reference. Now, I access via my iPad 3 (ePub version) for easier storage and guidance. It is much smaller, uses color sparingly (particularly blue), and covers most Mountain Lion features in about 70 pages in move of an overview format. I wish the line spacing were tighter, and the paragraph spacing wider for more pronounced transitions and delineations, thus making the reading flow better. The illustrations, notes, warnings, and text seem well-balanced throughout. Quick Reference is definitely the achieved goal of this treasure.

I depend on O’Reilly for great publications that support my life and interests. Being able to download ebooks for my iPad 3 and retina display 15” MacBook Pro makes access much easier, and the elimination of DRM restrictions makes storage hassle free. These latest two books continue their fine tradition of excellent publications to meet our needs in a timely and expeditious manner. I highly recommend them.